Pilot of US Airways Flight 1549Saved all 155 passengers and crew on January 15, 2009.

By Jennifer MaloneyJanuary 16, 2009

Chesley Burnett Sullenberger wanted to fly from the time he was a boy, watching fighter jets roar over his small hometown in Texas.

After a long career as a commercial pilot, Air Force fighter pilot, accident investigator and safety expert, Sullenberger, 57, faced his own emergency yesterday, landing US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River.

As the last passengers climbed onto ferry boats, Sullenberger walked the entire plane, twice, making sure that no one was left behind, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference last night.

"I'm not surprised at all," said Doug Hoover, 58, who was a high school classmate of the pilot in Denison, Texas. "This is his first chance to be a hero, but he always had it in him. He would have gone down with the ship, if that's what it took."

Denison was home to an Air Force jet training base.

"We grew up with jets buzzing around and he was in love with that from the get-go," Hoover said.

Sullenberger took private lessons and earned his private pilot's license when he was a junior in high school, said Jim Russell, 57, another classmate who played with Burnett in the junior high and high school marching bands.

"Occasionally, he would take me up in a plane," Russell said. "We would fly around and look at everything."

Sullenberger, known then as Burnett, was a committed kid with a sharp mind and strong sense of duty, his friends said. He could cut it up with the rest of them, Hoover said, but he remained focused on one thing.

"He didn't want to do anything to hurt his chances to get into the Air Force Academy," Hoover said. "He never got into any mischief whatsoever."

His father was a dentist and his mother taught elementary school. Both parents encouraged his flying dreams, Hoover said.

He passed the academy's rigorous entry requirements in 1969 and headed to Colorado Springs.

Commissioned four years later as an Air Force officer, Sullenberger, who now goes by the nickname "Sully," soon developed an interest in accident prevention. A fighter pilot flying F-4 Phantom II jets, he served as a member of the U.S. Air Force mishap investigation board.

In 1980, he joined US Airways and began a long civilian career as a pilot, investigator, researcher and entrepreneur, founding Safety Reliability Methods, a company that helps businesses improve their safety.

Sullenberger now lives in Danville, Calif., where he is a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, which studies safety, infrastructure, and preparedness in accidents and natural disasters.

Sullenberger was the right person to guide passengers through a crisis, Karlene Roberts, a friend who co-directs the center told the Contra-Costa Times of Walnut Creek, Calif.

"I can imagine him being sufficiently in charge to get those people out," Roberts said. "He's got that kind of personality, which is to his credit."

A few minutes after takeoff yesterday, Sullenberger told air traffic control that he had experienced a "multiple bird strike," said Bill McLoughlin, a union representative at LaGuardia Airport for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Both engines quit.

Passengers said Sullenberger told them to brace for impact, then landed on the water.

"He was phenomenal," said passenger Joe Hart, 50, of Massapequa. "He landed it. I tell you what - the impact wasn't a whole lot more than a rear-end [collision]. It threw you into the seat ahead of you."

While politicians and passengers lauded Sullenberger as a hero yesterday, his wife fielded calls from reporters.

Reached by phone, she said simply that she was proud of him.

Staff writers Eden Laikin and Andrew Strickler and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON BOARD155

WATER TEMPERATURE36 DEGREES

ESTIMATED NUMBER TREATED78

NUMBER DEAD0

Resume of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger:

Bottom-line driven manager supported by progressively responsible experience across 40+ years in the aviation industry. Possess in-depth understanding of aviation operations acquired through real-world flight experience, professional training and leadership roles with one of world’s leading airlines. History of achievement in safety, innovation, crew training, operational improvement, cost savings, productivity improvement and customer service; proven ability to maximize crew performance and flight safety. Combine strong industry knowledge and business leadership skills to consistently manage complex scheduling, lead high-performance, motivated teams and implement efficient processes that ensure smooth operations and quality customer service. Strong communicator, effective negotiator and motivational team builder; able to effectively communicate needs and merge disparate teams in the support of market objectives. Respected for wide range of industry knowledge, solid sense of integrity and demonstrated passion for industry as a whole as evidenced by lifelong career of flying.

Overview: Direct activities of pilot and flight attendant crew during both domestic and international flights (U.S., Canada, Latin America and Caribbean). Oversee all planning, directing and verifying all aspects of preparation for flight, including aircraft maintenance, servicing, loading, catering and passenger boarding. Brief crew on safety and security procedures and flight profile, ensuring all factors are currently and remain favorable for flight, while making sure all FAA and company procedures/polices are adhered to. Act as Pilot-in-Command, In-flight Security Coordinator and final authority on all issues relating to safety of flight.

Key Achievements & Contributions

Served as Check Airman, supervising and instructing other airline pilots upgrading from First Officer to Captain and to different aircraft. Recognized as one of best Check Airman/Line Instructors.

Spearheaded efforts to improve maintenance efforts of MD-80 fleet, focusing on reliability of air conditioning systems. Helped identify and reduce number of faulty air conditioning systems from 24 to zero on fleet. Received formal commendation from MD-80 Fleet Manager for work on this project.

Instrumental in delivering better, more competitive passenger service by presenting and receiving approval for suggestion to apply for and receive lower-than-standard takeoff minima in Canada.

Enhanced situational awareness and safety by incorporating entry/exit taxiways on airport charts used by pilots to transition from gate areas to runways, working closely with airline vendor that provides pilot charts.

Improved efficiency and reliability of air service in National Airspace System. Identified hundreds of FAA Instrument Landing System procedures used by all operators to land at airports that utilized incorrect visibility minima and collaborated with chart vendor to correct them.

Selected as airline pilot representative to work with vendor that provides Flight Management System (FMS) for several of airline’s aircraft to improve software and hardware that positively impacted operational safety and efficiency of airline operations. FMS improvements led to savings in both time and money (1% savings in fuel costs).

Driving force behind development of airline’s first CRM course and presenting course to hundreds of USAirways pilots. Significantly reduced number of operational incidents and realized reduction in number of altitude deviations. Course focuses on multi-disciplinary approach involving leadership, communication, decision-making and error management – airline went from 5 major accidents to zero.

Served as NASA Aviation Safety Research Consultant evaluating cockpit systems for reducing runway incursions. Co-authored published technical paper on crew decision-making errors in aviation working with NASA Ames researchers which provided blueprint for safer pilot training, procedures and standardization.

Instrumental in guiding all aviation groups to adopt safer, more uniform standard with respect to departure procedures that ultimately was incorporated into new FAA standard for all operators.

Teamed with SFO to adopt new airport taxiway signage that met latest FAA standards while improving safety and operational efficiency.Played integral role working with ATA, FAA, NATCA and NTSB to improve operations and investigate several major airline accidents. As member of ALPA National Noise Abatement Committee, directly involved in development of FAA Advisory Circular 91-53 which set new standard for aircraft noise abatement departure procedures industry-wide and improved safety and standardization.

Key contributor/member of National Transportation Safety Board Survival Factors Group during investigation of major airline accident at LAX, leading to improved airline procedures and training for emergency evacuations of aircraft.

Widely recognized as pilot advocate and champion of high professional standards that consistently result in safer, smoother and more efficient flights. Employ leadership-by-example approach in the facilitation of CRM courses, teaching captains to be more effective leaders and make better decisions.

M.A., Public Administration – University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado

Member, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)Served as ALPA Local Air Safety Chairman, Member of ALPA Noise Abatement Committee, ALPA representative during negotiations leading to adoption of Advisory Circular 91-53, Aircraft Noise Abatement Departure Procedures.

Safety/Reliability Consultant and Speaker on two panels at HRO 2007 (High Reliability Organization) International Conference in Deauville, France: “Flying Right, Low and High Reliability in Air Transportation Systems” and “A Comparison of Field Experience in HRO Implementation: Aviation, Aerospace and Medicine”.

President & CEO, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc. Expert in applying safety and reliability methods in a variety of fields.

There were 155 souls aboard Flight 1549. And every single one made it out.

It was a jaw-dropping achievement, by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who steered a crippled Airbus A320 in for a controlled belly flop in the Hudson River yesterday. An inspiring feat. One heck of a heartwarming story for a dreary winter day. Some reports suggested it may have been the first successful water landing of a crippled commercial airplane.

"The captain said, 'Brace for impact because we're going down,'" passenger Jeff Kolodjay, 31, of Norwalk, Conn., still wet below the knees of his pants, told reporters. Passengers put their heads down, and some prayed.

"It was intense. It was intense," Kolodjay said. "You've got to give it to the pilot. He made a hell of a landing."

Which qualifies as an understatement.

Sullenberger wasn't giving interviews yesterday. But I suspect he might shun the label of hero, and maybe even shrug. He was just doing his job, he might say, before going on to thank his crew for their professionalism, his passengers for their cooperation, and the rescuers who came to their aid.

He's an Air Force Academy graduate and once flew F-4 Phantom planes, joining US Airways in 1980.

Here, in part, is how Sullenberger himself describes his responsibilities on his resume:

"Brief crew on safety and security procedures and flight profile, ensuring all factors are currently and remain favorable for flight ... Act as Pilot-in-Command, In-flight Security Coordinator and final authority on all issues relating to safety of flight.

In short, the guy's a pro.

That's fine, but the fact remains that more than 60 tons of airplane left LaGuardia bound for Charlotte yesterday afternoon, carrying Kolodjay and his fishing buddies among its passengers. What happened to the engines is yet to be determined. Yesterday, authorities said a flock of birds may have caused engine failure.

And Sullenberger, during the critical last minutes when the plane remained airborne, made the plane succumb to his will. He did not land where people on the ground could be hurt. He kept the plane over water. And, eyewitnesses told reporters, he carefully piloted the plane down and into the Hudson, as smoothly as if he were landing on a runway.

Then, passengers said he checked the plane, which was taking on water, to make sure everyone had been rescued. He checked the plane twice.

He handled all of it with experience and skill. But there is something more. It's a calm that's almost otherworldly, and a preternatural cool-headedness. That's what the best pilots possess. No matter what happens. Even that's not always enough to save lives.

His success reminded me of my buddy, a former World War II pilot. He once told me about a time he and his squadron had to deliberately steer their planes into the Pacific because they didn't have enough fuel to make it back from a mission. They climbed out fast and bobbed in the water in small rafts, as the occasional enemy plane flew overhead, until they were rescued.